Alright chapter 1 of my re edited One Piece Story. Yes it took a LONG while but that's mostly cause DAMN LIFE IS COMPLEX! There has been quite a bit of editing done to this story.
So I hope this will be better and I personally feel that this will considerably more satisfactory. Oh and I'll say this now, though I'm probably not the first guy to come up with the idea, but if someone in the One Piece cannon winds up with Hurley's power I will state now: I did not copy it and I wrote this story with those powers first! By the way any/all translations of whatever words you may see in this fic will be at the bottom of the story.
Anyway... ON WITH IT!
-
In the middle of the night, two men in black clothing were creeping through the dark hallway of an empty building. One was short, the other was tall and fat. Normally it would be suicide considering the owner of the building they were in and his security. The two kept creeping until they found the door they were looking for.
"Finally found it. I knew scaling the walls of this place was worth it." The short one said with a sneering voice.
"But I was the one that climbed up the rope. That was my part right?" The tall fat man asked in a dull tone.
"Yeah whatever now be quiet." The short one hissed as he pulled out a set of picks and inserted them into the lock. After a few seconds a click was heard. "Got it! My genius comes through again."
The two went through the door to look at the insides of the main office of the building.
"So where do you think it is sir?" The tall man asked.
"Simple logic dumb ass. The man would put them in a place that would be closest to him when he's working. So..." The short man walked up to the main polished wood desk and found what he knew would be there. A drawer with a lock on it. Once again the man used his clips to work the lock. Meanwhile the tall man looked at the objects on the desk's surface and took notice of a few pictures. One was of a young boy with four adults standing behind him with jovial smiles. Another was a picture of a man and a woman waving at the camera. The last was of large ship that was masterfully crafted, though in his simple mind the only words that came to him were 'That boat is perty.'
Click.
"Yes! About damn time." The short man said. He set down his lock picking set and opened the drawer. Inside where small bags that made jingling sounds when he moved them, no doubt filled with coins or some other treasure, a few ring boxes, and a small leather billfold. Finally in the back he found a pile of papers. He removed them and opened them to find they were exactly what he was looking for.
"Got it!" The man quickly closed the drawer, locked it, and stood to leave. "Lets get out of here. I don't want to be here any longer than I need to be."
"We arn't gonna take anything else sir?" The tall man asked.
"Are you kidding?" said his companion, "If the rumors about this place's owner are true, then I'm running the instant my feet touch solid ground. Now lets go!"
Both men left the office and re-locked the door, rushed through the halls to the window they came through, and started to scale back down the building with the short man holding on to the tall fat man's back while he traveled down the building with an apparently large amount of physical strength. When they touched ground they bolted off towards the town making a clean getaway.
Little did they know that up in the room they had entered, there was a small bird watching them. When it bird watched them leave through the door it spread it's wings and flew up into a shaft in the ceiling of the room.
-
The One Week Later
A young man walked down the walkway from the ship to the dock. He was about 19 in age, had short brown eyes, and a very unique hair style. His light brown hair was cut close to his head but from the fromt of his head to the back he had long hair tied back into a ponytail. He wore a black tank top under an open white island shirt that had a blue tropic flower on the back in the middle of a red fire ball. He had on regular pants but they had loosened straps on the bottom of the legs.
He walked down and looked around the dock. Men and women all walked around him. Some of them civilians, the others, were Pirates. This sight was not surprising, for the port that the young man was at: Iron Lobby. A port built entirely for the business of pirate trade and supply. The entire island was a place for all pirates in the Grand Line to come to sell and trade their goods, completely out of sight from the World Government. This was due to the unique item called a Moon Map.
The map was drawn up with special ink that could only be seen in Moonlight. The journey has to be taken at night as well. The reason for this is because the ink will disappear completely when it comes in contact with sunlight. So far its the only reason why the World Government hasn't been able to find the island.
The young man walked down the dock to the record keeper of the docks and started answering his questions.
"Alright young man, what is your name?"
"Alden Harxey."
"And what is your business here?"
"Ship hunting."
"Alright, and how long will your stay be?"
"Two days at least."
"Ok, that'll be 40 Belli."
Alden paid the record keeper, and decided to ask him something.
"Excuse me sir but, I know this is a Pirate trading port but, I half expected to see everyone killing and stealing from each other. Yet everyone is acting as regular as common city people. Whats up with that?"
The record keeper looked at Alden and said "You must be new here. No one acts up because its against the rules here. All pirates signed in must act accordingly or risk being arrested, banned from the island, and their Moon Map taken away. The port's owner demands order for the sake of proving the world wrong that all pirates are grubby thieves. However, of course, there is one exception."
"What's that?" Alden asked.
"If you can commit a crime without being caught, have no proof against you, or leave before the crime is reported, then you can get away with it." said the man smiling.
"Oh, so that's why it's so calm. They're all being sneaky." Alden sweat dropped as he let this information sink into his head. He then walked away to perform the goal he had set out to do.
Alden had finally gotten to the Grand Line after months of preparation with his father, a trader for the port who had often told his son he'd take him to the Grand Line when he was younger when he wasn't on a trade route. The crew had gotten to the grand line just about a month ago, and when they did Alden set off by himself to acheive his dream, to be part of a legendary pirate crew. A crew so infamous, the all the world knows about them. Alden himself would become captain of such a crew, but decided against it. He himself although having many other talents, leadership was NOT in the category. So he decided to buy a ship, find a crew, and join them in their journey to greatness.
The thought of it was enough to make Alden all the more determined to make his dream come true.
Bump.
Alden, with his mind lost in thought, had accidentally bumped his shoulder into a walking by person.
"Sorry." he said.
"Watch were your going kid!" The said person was a short man with a thick beard. He turned and continued off in the other direction.
"Geez, rude much?" Alden whispered. He started to walk off on his way when after the first two steps he stopped and turned with an unpleasant look on his face. Alden walked up to the man that he had bumped into and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, I said I'm sorry. Now could you please give me my wallet back?"
"What? What are you talking about?" The man replied.
"I noticed that while I was walking away, the feeling in my pocket of my wallet was gone."
"And you got the gall to accuse me?"
"Yes I do, so if you would please give it back." Alden said with his hand open facing the man.
"Hey, how can you prove I got your wallet huh? Don't you know the rules of the port?"
"Yes I do and I absolutely know that you have my wallet is because it's sticking out of your pocket, and it has my family symbol on it."
The man looked down and and saw that there was a peice of leather sticking out of his pocket and on it there was a petal in flames quite viable to the eye.
"Uhhhhhh..." The man looked up to Alden, then...he ran away.
"HEY!" Alden screamed and chased after the man. For a short guy he really could ran fast. The man could also move through the crowd more easily. Alden kept with his pace as fast as he could, but there were so many people around.
But finally the man turned a corner. The crowd wasn't as dense as it was here so Alden caught up and turned the corner.
Were he ran into the little man as well as three very large men standing behind him. The tallest fat one had a large hammer, another with a pick-ax, and the last with a giant wooden club. Also, they were in front of a very large ship were the crew were all looking over the railing at the men and Alden.
"Oh crap."
"Well, good sir," the small man said while holding Alden's wallet in an obvious fashion, "Do you still think I stole your wallet?"
Alden looked at him and said, "Duh."
"Well my crew mates disagree. Don't ya boys?" The three big men behind the little man laughed in agreement. "These are the Foulton Brothers. The biggest men in my crew. Still think I have your wallet?"
"Yes, and again, DUH!"
"Fine then. Boys, tell the kid that I don't have his wallet."
All three men charged forward, raising their weapons. Alden crouched slightly and put his elbows wide with his fists close to his body.
The first brother was the one with the hammer. He swung it like a bat hoping to smash Alden's head off his shoulders. However Alden spring-jumped forward and under the swing of the hammer. The other brother with the wooden club also swung his weapon sideways to try and strike Alden in the head or stomach.
Alden leaned back and let himself fall to the ground. The club flew right over his body. The third brother swung down his pick-ax and Alden rolled out of the way. The pick-ax speared into the ground. Alden rolled until he planted his hands on the ground and pushed himself up.
"You guys may be big but I got something you don't."
All brothers turned to look at him.
"An education in fighting technique."
Alden ran straight to the brothers as the one with the hammer swung. Alden pulled back his left arm and thrust his right fist forward at the metal head and stomped his right foot into the ground halting his run. During his fist's strike his hand suddenly looked to catch on fire with bright transparent red flame.
"Burning Straight!"
Alden's fiery fist crashed into the hammer head and smashed it upon impact. The hammer handle was blown out of the large man's hands and his eyes were wide with shock. While he was dumbfounded Alden took advantage of the opening and pushed off the ground with his right foot and brought up his left knee which was also covered with the red flame.
"Burning Tremble!" Alden's knee slammed into the gut of the hammer brother causing him to fall on his back.
Alden turned to look behind him and saw the wooden club coming strait for him. He jumped straight up and let the club fly under him. As soon as he landed he turned his body and kicked the back of the man's leg making him fall to one knee. While he was down Alden kicked his leg out hard and cought the man in the back of the head sending his face forward into the dirt.
Behind Alden the last standing brother came at him with the pick axe with the intent of sticking the blade into Alden's head. Alden heard the man's great footsteps a mile away and when they got close enough Alden spun on his feet to the right and away from the pick axe's destination making the weapon's blade stick into the ground. Alden quickly put his foot at the base of the metal that connected to the wooden handle under the blade that wasn't in the ground and kicked the man in his chest forcing him back and letting go of his weapon. Alden pressed his attack by running at the man who tried to throw a punch but Alden threw out and blocked the strike with his left forearm.
Alden threw a right punch to the man's gut making him double over and bring his face to Alden's left elbow. Alden grabbed the arm he blocked earlier and tugged hard and the man was forced to move forward. Alden grabbed his other arm and pulled downward to make his opponent bend forward put his head between Alden's legs and reached under the man's shoulders and threaded his arms up and around his torso.
"Oh this is gonna hurt." Alden said to his grappled enemy before he jumped up, tucked his knees and placed them on the back of the man's head and let gravity bring him back down and slamming his opponent's face into the dirt and letting his knees slide down the sides of the man's head upon impact to prevent the front of his skull being crushed while still delivering the painful blow to the man's face.
Alden moved back to his feet and observed his opponent to be out cold. He wouldn't be allowed to be at ease yet as he heard the two men he dispatched earlier run at him. Alden responded by jumping and turning around mid-air while doing so to land with his legs out and his feet parallel to each other. Alden pulled his elbows in and made fists with both hands.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Both the charging men screamed as they ran break-neck at Alden, who's fists lit up with the red transparent fire again.
"Burning..."
"We'll kill you!" Both men yelled filled with anger.
"UPPER!" Alden yelled as he sent both fists upwards into the chins of the two men trying to attack him.
Both men went flying up and over Alden to land next to and on top of their unconscious brother. Alden stood straight and lowered his hands to his sides. Hur turned to his fallen adversaries and breathed out loud.
"My hands where on fire, I was in a solid stance and was clearly going to uppercut you both but you still came at me. How dumb can you get?"
Seeing that his opponent's weren't getting up, he then looked back to the small man who know had a jaw falling to the ground. Alden sprinted to him and the man turned to run, but before either of them could get anywhere a loud bang was heard and a bullet had just shot into the earth in front of the small man.
Both Alden and the man looked up at the point were the shot had been fired and they both saw a man with a balding head with hair growing from the back. He wore a black jacket with lots of pockets and sticking out of them were many pistol handles. His legs were covered by green pants that also had lots of pockets but you could see knife handles sticking out.
"Captain!" The small man cried.
"Eltu, give the kid his wallet."
"But captain, I-"
"I said, give him back his wallet. The boy earned it."
The small man, know known as Eltu, walked to Alden and stuck out his hand with the wallet. Alden quickly snatched it up.
"As for you kid..." Alden looked up at the man in green, "I am Captain Sporosso. This crew is known as the Emerald Pirates, and you just took down my three strongmen. I have one thing to say to you."
Alden looked strait at the man.
"Wanna join us?"
Alden looked startled at first, then a smile grew on his face. "First things first man, we have to talk."
"Then come aboard." The captain motioned for Alden to walk up the docking board, and he did so.
"So what exactly spurned you on to make a decision like asking me to join your crew?" Alden asked. He was now sitting in a chair across from Captain Sporosso in his office chamber.
"Quite a few things actually. One: we need some extra hands on board, Two: Those hands have to be competent enough to be a pirate, and three: that flashy show you did out there. What exactly was that boy?"
"Busoushiki no Tamashii. A martial art made to draw out one's energy and used to increase the damage of martial techniques."
"Quite a talent you got there. Could be very useful in our plans, and trust me boy we've got big plans for this port indeed. Been working on them for about a week now."
"What? A big trade for a lot of Belli?"
"No, no young boy. We are planning a merger with the owner of this port. You see, we don't call ourselves the Emerald Pirates for nothing. Jewels, gems, stones of great rarity are our specialty. My favorite happens to be Emeralds, hence our crew's name. We are a very powerful crew and our resources surely won't be denied. The owner will have no other choice than to join with us."
"This owner of the port, who is he? I heard he made the rule that just accusing someone of a crime isn't enough, you have to have actual proof or catch them in the act."
"Yes, which reminds me. Please excuse Eltu, he was a street urchin when we picked him up. Stealing was all he could do to survive. And as the saying goes, old habits die hard."
"Well I guess I could understand that. But like I was saying, the port owner sounds like a real character."
"Oh he is. Although, no one in my crew has ever seen him, they say he is not a man, but an otherworldly being in the skin of a man. They say he chose the name Iron Lobby because his heart is made of cold hard metal with nothing else in him."
"A man with a cold, lifeless metal heart?" Alden questioned.
"Yes. Supposedly because he had been in conflicts and battles so vicious and horrid that he forced himself to be rid of all humanity and kindness to deal with the tremendous amount of blood on his hands. But that isn't really the issue we are dealing with at the moment. We just need to convice him of our plans. You my boy, are in luck. We were planning on talking with him tomorrow evening. So what do you say?"
Alden put his chin in his hand and considered everything he had heard.
"I have only one question." he asked.
"Ask away son." Sporosso encouraged.
"Are you intending to make your crew so legendary that all the world will know your names?"
Sporosso smiled slyly, "It is my every intention be be world-renowned boy. I guarantee you that."
"Then you have a new shipmate." Alden put out his hand and Sporosso shook it firmly. When they let go Sporosso instructed Alden to walk with him.
"So what will I be doing? Navigating? Marksman? Shipwright's assistant?" Alden asked as they were walking through the lower levels of the ship.
"Now now my boy, everyone has to start from the bottom up. You'll be helping the others down here with some clean up."
"Clean up?" Alden asked.
Sporosso opened up a door to his left and inside was a man that looked to be in his twenty's was washing the window of the room.
He turned around and Alden saw sunglasses connected by a strap behind his head. Covering his hair, if he had any, was a black leather bandana. He had on a black shirt and brown pants. Your average pirate man.
"Hey there!" he said he said with a cheery voice, "Evening captain! Got another one eh?"
"Alden, this is Peaky. He'll be your cabin-mate. You'll be helping him with all the chores."
Alden turned to Sporosso with a look of shock. "Chores? But I thought-"
"Now you two be sure to get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow!" Sporosso closed the door behind him, leaving the two alone in the room.
Alden then plopped down on the bed nearest to him.
"Awwww, man! Some legendary crew I must be in. I fight three muscle bound idiots trying to kill me, and now I'm a cabin boy! How could this get worse?"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! RAT! RAT! QUICK KILL IT!" Peaky screamed at the top of his lungs, making Alden jump up in surprise.
"Oh good lord." he muttered.
Alden looked over to see a small mouse run into a small hole in the wall.
"You gotta be kidding. IT'S A MOUSE!" Alden yelled in frustration.
"Yeah but I bet the things got a mean streak a mile long. It probably has really sharp teeth too." Peaky said as he slowly came down from the bed he was standing on. "So uh, how did you get into this? Spossoro give you the 'Big Money' speech, or did he give you the 'Great Fame, and an assured place in history' speech? We all got into this place like that too."
"We? What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the other cabin boys. It's like the crew is collecting them."
"Oh great, I'm a faceless pawn on a giant chess board."
"Pretty much," Added Peaky, "But I've been here a week so I'd say I was a rook, or a bishop."
"AWWWWWWWWW!" Alden groaned in frustration.
-Later that night, in the Captain's office-
"Is everything ready?" Asked Sporosso.
"Yes Captain, we have twenty three cabin boy ready and naively waiting." Eltu had stated while he peered over to his captain.
"We've already gotten the final report from our men on the inside. Our plan has already started smoothly."
"Good. Everything is going as planned." Captain Sporosso began to explain, "We send in a cabin boy with one of our men and have the other one kill him. Our new, more stupid cabin boys become angered by this display. I rally them up and tell them to take over the port office. During that time whatever security is there will kill the recruit cabin-boys, tiring them out to be done in no time. Then we line up the staff, and ask witch one will serve us. Those that don't, get the shaft, then the bullet. And then, when we have everything we need, we kill whats left of the cabin boys."
"Sir we may have a problem, informants also say that the port owner's assistant manager has been running the show for about a week."
"So, what about her?"
"Sir, the Port Owner may not be there. It may just have attendants, workers, the trade goods."
"If worst comes to worst, we'll improvise. But remember, this plan will grant us total control over Iron Lobby! We didn't go and steal the blueprints and floor prints for the building for nothing did we?"
All those who were present were grinning and chuckling.
"Gentlemen, rest up, for tomorrow, we take Iron Lobby!
All the men raised their hands up in agreement and in the eagerness to have the one port in the world that had some of the greatest riches in the world.
What they didn't know is, that behind the door, somebody was listening intently to their conversation. When the meeting was over, the eavesdropper sneaked away, without a sound.
The Next Day, On the Northern Port Section
Alden was walking alongside Peaky as he and what seemed to be the entire crew. Captain Sporosso said that taking the entire crew to the port office was a sign of seriousness, and that the Emerald Pirates were to be taken seriously. But what he didn't know was why all the crew had weapons.
"Don't we want to make this guy a partner? We don't wanna scare him off." Alden whispered to Peaky.
"It's all part of business." Peaky said, "By bearing weapons it shows that we can't be intimidated. When presenting oneself you can't make yourself look timid or easily turned away. You've got to show you're willing to be the tough guy looking for aggressive expansion."
"You seem to know a lot about marketing. Where'd you learn that?"
"I didn't, I just guessed. Why? Do you know some stuff about marketing?" Peaky asked while smiling a wide grin.
Alden sighed trough his teeth. As he walked through a large set of gates he saw all the residential buildings that reached all the way back to something that made him gasp in shock. The port office wasn't an office, it was a fortress!
Seemingly built at the back of the small city, the building was a gigantic structure with huge walls of smoothed stone. The building had three parts, in front was a smaller building that stretched from one side to another. The second was behind it and was a large tower. The third part was in a great horse-shoe shape around the back of the second building and connected to the first. The most peculiar thing was, Alden had seen the middle tower before, on a navy base.
"Whoa. This place is huge. But whats with the navy building? I thought this guy was a pirate.?" Alden asked.
"He is," Peaky replied, "But when this guy specializes in the selling of one particular type of item, World Government merchandise."
"What?"
"Uh huh, the man apparently started stealing things from navy bases. Maps, weapons, treasure. Then the guy got the idea to make a place specifically for pirates to trade. Iron Lobby, and of course ay pirate whos a pirate wants to be a step ahead of the navy so you can imagine the success that brought, witch led to enough money to build this place. They used the blue prints of a navy base as well as an earth-supported version of a navy structure. Ever heard of Enies Lobby?"
Alden's eyes widened. "The Marine Base connected to the Gates of Justice? You mean the owner of this place..."
"Yeseroonie." Peaky finished for him. "The guy went there, snuck in, got the schematics for the place, and got the hell out of dodge before anyone knew he was there. Came here and built almost the exact same building with a little twist on the name as a big ole middle finger flip to the World Govt. Obviously he made some changes with the front and back structures. As well as those gates back there that separate the docks and the dock bazaars with the residential areas and the main merchant shops."
"Whoa." Alden was near speechless as Peaky continued on.
"Any way the place is built not only on the top of the ground, but under it are the storage shelves, which are supposedly to hold just about everything. In the hills behind it are, also supposedly, vaults containing multiple treasures. Some even say he has an entire COLLECTION of Devil Fruits from almost everywhere in the world. An entire wall of them I heard! Others say he has some of the rarest swords in the world. He's even rumored to have a giant ship in one of those vaults. But like I said, its all 'supposedly' so who knows." Peaky finished as he turned to Alden, who was staring wide eyed at him. "What?" he asked.
"Your smarter than you look arn't you?" Alden asked.
"Why did I sound smart?" Peaky brightened at the question.
Alden however didn't respond as everyone had stopped. They were now at the front gates of the fortress. The open front gates. Everyone stood there looking around, looking at the building, looking at the scenery. The captain was out in front with Eltu and the Foulton Brothers, who now each carried a large object wrapped in cloth.
Sporosso turned to Eltu, "Ar'nt there supposed to be guards here?"
Eltu looked back up at his captain and said, "Well our spies did tell us that the port owner may be gone, so maybe he has them as his bodyguards now."
"And leave the place unprotected?"
"Well no ones ever tried to take over the place. My guess is all the rumors that go around abound the guy."
Suddenly, the doors to the building opened, and out came a young woman. She had brown eyes and deep red hair in a pony tail that was styled to coil around at the end and reached to the small of her back. She was wearing a business skirt, and a black jacket over a white dress shirt.
"I am Kelda, Assistant manager of Port Midnight, how May I help you?" she asked.
Sporosso walked calmly up to her and said, "Yes, miss, I am Captain Scpello Sporosso. I have come to ask for a chance to give your manager a business proposition."
The woman simply stood there and said "I'm sorry, the manager isn't here. He is on leave from business due to a small illness."
"Oh," said Eltu, "So that means you're in charge?"
"Yes, I am in charge of any and all businesses transpiring until the manager returns. However it's a Sunday so no business has been made today, so noone is around. The only people inside are our cleaning crew and I am managing them."
"Oh, well in that case," Sporosso whipped out one of his pistols and leveled it at the woman's forehead, said woman seemed unaffected by this display "Then we'll just go ahead with plan B."
Sporosso turned to the crew behind him and yelled out, "Alright men! This is the chance to prove your mettle! All you that have just joined, make me proud to call you Emerald Pirates! Get in there and grab everyone you can find, then bring them out here! Make me proud boys!"
"HURRRRAHHHHH!" The crew yelled out as they charged forward and into the building.
"What's going on?" Alden asked startled by the change in events.
"We're ransacking the place, so come on! YEEEEEEE-HAAAAA!" Peaky charged forward with the rest of the crew, Alden followed soon after. They stormed into the building and found cleaning ladies and janitors, scrubbing and polishing vases and pictures, doing their work. Every one of them that were found were grabbed and brought them outside as ordered. When a few of the more ambitious members ran to the storage shelves, they found the doors sealed and locked.
After a while everyone had cleared out of the place Alden was still inside looking around, trying to figure out what to do.
"What the hell am I suppose to do here? I don't wanna grab someone then lug'em off like a caveman."
"I have ALWAYS wanted to do this! YIP-YIP YAHOO! YIP-YIP-YAHOO! YAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Alden turned around to see Peaky rush past him with two maids over his shoulders, running like a mad man.
"The hell?" Alden rushed after him and out the door. On the outside wall all the cleaning personnel were being kept there by the cabin boys. Alden ran up to them and took his place next to Peaky.
"What the hell was that? You were hooting like a rabid owl!"
"Sorry, caught up in the moment."
"Men! Pay attention!" Eltu shouted, the cabin boys all turned to look at their crew mates. Sporosso stepped forward and looked over at all of those in front of him.
"Gentlemen, you have my thanks, and my pride. You've all done well and are all appreciated for your efforts, we couldn't have done it without you. However, those efforts...are no longer needed. MEN!"
All the crew raised their pistols at the cabin boys and cleaning crew. Causing different reaction to rise.
"What the hell?" "What are you doing?" "Whats going on?"
Sporosso spoke again, "Sorry boys but there's quite a bit of treasure in those halls, and we'd like to keep the sharing to a minimum of veteran crew members only."
"Crap, we're screwed." Peaky said.
Alden however had something more to say so he stepped forward, "What! Sporosso! You can't do this!"
"Why exactly is that? We're Pirates boy. We lie and steal all the time. That's what pirates do."
"Well yeah I get that, I would never had made the decision to be a pirate if I wasn't prepared to steal and cheat and even take a life if I had to. But turning on the men you inducted into your crew? The men who became the equivalent of brothers in arms the instant you told them welcome aboard? BULLSHIT! This is not what pirates do! What about what you said about becoming a legendary crew, and being known world wide?"
"Boy, we will be world renowned, we just took the Iron Lobby by ourselves! We planned everything out. We even got away with stealing the schematics for the place, we'll soon know every inch of this place as well as it's treasures, and besides, you really think that some pirate wannabes that have been on my ship for a week would really be that important?"
"Yes!" Alden shouted back. "The instant a man agrees to be a crew mate on a ship that's a contract bound in blood. At least that's what I've always been told."
Everyone had their eyes on Alden. Peaky, who was next to him, had an eyebrow raised.
"Pirates are more known for two things: the crimes they commit, and their commitment to each other and to the cause they reach for. Both crew and captain are willing to do anything to achieve the goals set to them! You think guys like the Yonkou Whitebeard and Shanks got to where they are by killing members of their own crew? To kill your own crew is practically the worst thing you could do as a pirate! If you do this Sporosso, what next? You'll kill the rest of the crew and run the port yourself?"
At this the crew seemed to laugh before they re aimed their pistols and rifles at their targets.
"Kid, we have an unspoken agreement, you take what you get, and keep what you claim. Hell the only reason I'm captain of this crew is because I'm the strongest in it, and no ones killed me to take my place."
"Then you're not pirates, your nothing but a bunch of asshole thugs waiting for someone to turn around so you can stab them in the back. There's nothing legendary about you and there never will be!"
Alden didn't see it but Peaky was smiling at every word he said.
"Well young Alden now you've gone and hurt our feelings. So we'll just be killing you now, shoot him first! Ready!"
Alden's eyes widened.
"Aim!"
He felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and pull.
"FIRE!"
The sound of multiple firing filled the air. But almost immediately afterwards, or at the same time Alden still can't tell when, Peaky had placed himself in front of Alden. A resounding sound of multiple 'ping' sounds were heard.
Alden had no idea what was happening. The Emerald Pirates all of a sudden had shocked looks on their faces and he could hear Kelda say the words, 'Cut it a bit too close.'
"Hey kid." Peaky said finally.
"Wha-huh?" Alden said, being brought back to reality.
"Your dad's name is Deer Harxey, isn't he?"
"Yeah how did you-Peaky what the hell's going on?"
"The guys one of my best employees. 'The instant a man agrees to be a crew mate on a ship that's a contract bound in blood,' I'd know those words anywhere. Good to see they came off on you."
All the Emerald Pirates faces turned white when they heard the word 'employee.'
"What do you mean employee, he works for the port. He-wait...YOUR-"
"Names not Peaky by the way." 'Peaky' turned to his side to look at Alden. He brought his hand up and removed his sunglasses and bandana. With them gone, his bright silver hair fell down on the sides of his head. When he opened his eyes Alden could see that he had bright cobalt blue colored eyes.
"My name is Batik D. Hurley. Owner, founder, and manager of Iron Lobby."
'Holy crap.' Was all that Alden could think. The Emerald Pirates However were more verbal.
"Peaky's the port owner? Hes the cold hearted monster-man?" "You gotta be kidding! The guys an idiot!" "What did he do just now? All I saw was the bullets bouncing off of him!"
"Oh, by the way," Said Hurley as he turned to face the pirate crew, "Thank you so much Sporosso for giving me the information I needed. I couldn't exactly make accurate claims if it hadn't been for you admitting to your crime."
"WHAT?" Sporosso yelled out. "What the hell is wrong with you? First your an idiot cabin boy, and now your the port owner?"
"Its called going undercover. Ya see my security birds, special little parrots who can record what they see and can repeat it as well as any Den Den Mushi, told me about a couple of idiots trying to steal from me. They told me how one was short, which I'm guessing its your little one right there," Hurley motioned towards Eltu, "And another of your crew who happened to be a tall fat fellow. So I went out searching for those that match the descriptions, and showed signs of suspicious behavior towards my business. Then I noticed you were trying to build up a bigger crew for reasons of needing a lot of people to pull off a raid. I stuck around for a while, heard your little conversation last night, and snuck off to give my faculty further instructions. I let the security have some time off knowing you'd want to shed some blood if you encountered anyone. Not only that I have this."
Hurley pulled out a small Den Den Mushi from his large leg pocket in his pants and held it. It then quoted 'Boy we will be world renowned, we just took port midnight by ourselves! We planned everything out. We even got away with stealing the schematics for the place, we'll soon know every inch of this place as well as it's treasures.'
"So now you have two choices, one is that you throw down your weapons, forfeit your Moon Map and let yourselves be blindfolded, transported to some random part of the ocean and never come back. Or, we can fight and you can have all those things done to you but you'll be sore and bruised."
"Captain, what do we do?" Eltu looked to his captain with clear worry on his face.
"Shoot again! Kill the bastard!"
All the shooters started to raise their rifles and pistols again. But as they did Hurley raised his hands which started to shine in the light.
"Oh yeah shoot again. Good idea. Come on seriously, does your train of thought have a caboose? Metallum Exertus!"
From around Hurley's hands, multiple shining sleek bullets shot out and broke the rifles and pistols from the hands of their owners.
"What the hell was that?" "His heart's not just metal, his arm is too!"
"You idiots! The man's obviously eaten a Devil Fruit!" Sporosso spat out in disdain.
"Yep, I ate the Kane Kane no Mi. Can't swim, but..." Hurley's entire body became bright gray and metallic looking. "I'm the trade off is well worth it."
The pirates grimaced at this. Hurley then turned to Alden and said, "Hey Alden, how bout you take care of Sporosso? I'll take out the grunts."
"What? Suddenly your a strategic fighter now? What the hell!"
"Now Foulton Brothers! SHOOT!"
Hurley and Alden looked to see that the three Foultons had unwrapped their weapons they had on their backs. All three of them had cannons on their shoulders. They all pulled at the string each had in their hands.
"Metallum Contego!" Hurley brought his hands together with his palms forward.
BANG!
The cannonballs had hit Hurley's body head on and caused a smoke cloud to rise up around him. Noone heard anything from the cloud.
"Devil fruit or no, three cannonballs at that range will take anyone out." Sporosso said while grinning at the removal of an obstacle in his path.
"Anyone but me apparently." A voice came from inside the dust cloud.
"What the hell?" Was Sporosso's eloquent comment.
As the dust cleared everyone in front of Hurley saw instead of his regular body, a towering ten foot tall metal shield with a smiley face made in an impish style with a jagged outline for the mouth and curved eyes. Those behind Hurley saw that Hurley's hands had became the shield from the back.
"This is what the Kane Kane no Mi does. It gives me the power of metal."
The Pirate crew all looked on as Hurley finished his thoughts.
"Now then, carrying on." Hurley said as his shield shrank back to his hands and raised his right arm in the air. "Metallum..." The pirates started to run from their current locations. "Anguis!"
Hurley brought down his right arm to slam his right fist into the ground where metal spikes seemed to grow from the ground making a line to the pirates as the stumbled out of the way.
"Don't just stand there Alden! Go kick some ass! Sporosso's getting away!"
Alden shook his head to shake off the apparent awe that had previously overcome him. He looked around to see that Sporosso was running away.
"He's not going anywhere!" Alden sprinted as fast as he could in Sporosso's direction. Hurley turned back to the crew that were getting back up.
"Ware were we? Oh yeah." Hurley placed his hand on the ground. "Metallum Carcer."
The ground started to rumble under the feet of the pirates. From the dirt below, multiple triangular metal structures grew around them and fit together to trap all of the crew in a large dome. All except for the three Foulton brothers and Eltu.
"Hey guys, you know what the golden rule is right?" Hurley lifted his right leg to show that four large ball shapes were growing on them. "Do unto others as you'd wish them to do unto you. So obviously..." Hurley pulled back his leg, "You guys are wanting a few cannonballs hurled at you to!"
"What?" The men asked at once.
"INCOMING!" Hurley swiped his leg forward and from his leg four metal balls flew out.
"AHHHHHHHH!" All four men screamed before being hit by the balls and thrown into the metal walls of their crew's prison knocking them out cold.
"Well, thats been taken care of. Now then, where'd the kid go?"
Sporosso was just a small way away from his ship, it was there that he could get to his lifeboats. He could sail out and use a Den Den Mushi to call for help from another crew. It was a good plan. At least it would if he reached his ship.
"Your not going any were!"
Sporosso looked behind him to see a pair of feet hit his face dead on.
Alden landed after he finished his drop kick to Sporosso's face.
"Agh! You damned pest!" Sporosso pulled from his jacket a pistol and fired it at Alden. Alden moved out of the way and kept running forward. Sporosso drew another pistol and fired again trying to hit Alden.
"Any man who doesn't give a damn about his own crew doesn't deserve to be a pirate in the first place!"
Sporosso kept firing his pistols and Alden kept dodging while moving forward,
"That's what pirates are you idiot! We kill whoever we want, even our own crew mates if we have to! That's how you get ahead in piracy, you take everything!"
"Wrong!" Alden finally got within the range he needed to be in.
Alden jumped forward, tucked in his legs and rolled. Sporosso pulled out a knife from his pants and brought it up to slash Alden but Alden's feet shot out, hitting Sporosso in the stomach sending him backwards. Alden rolled back to stand up and ran at Sporosso one more time just as he was drawing a pistol.
"Burning..." Alden spun right on his left foot and lifted his right leg with his right foot blazing bright red.
"DIE!" Sporosso screamed as he brought up his pistol, but he was too slow.
"ROUND!"
Alden's blazing right foot connected to the side of Sporosso's head hard enough for a few teeth to pop out of his mouth from the impact. Sporosso dropped to the ground with eyes blank white.
"Pirates are free. Free of laws, free to do whatever the hell they want. To live a life were noone can tell them what to do, or what to say. But to treat your crew as you did, to say that killing them is something a real pirate does? That's something you are never suppost to do. That guy back there? He's nuts but at least he's got the brains to know what a pirate really is from what I can see. He made this place a haven for pirates. He made it a place were we can continue being real pirates. You and the rest of your pretend pirate crew obviously don't belong here."
"Well said."
Alden turned around to see Hurley walking up to him. "Looks like your old man's philosophies came off on you pretty well kid."
"So, what are ya gonna do with him?" Alden asked motioning to Sporosso.
"Well...I'll send him on his way."
"But won't he just come back?"
"Nope, the way I can make it, he'll never come back here."
"How? If he knows were the-"
"GYAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Behind Hurley Sporosso had gotten back up and launched himself at Hurley with a knife in his hands. He got to him and lunged. But instead of feeling the blade pierce his flesh, Sporosso heard a distinct 'ka-chink'. That was when he noticed the blade had broken off because Hurley's body had turned completely to metal.
"Oh, forgot to mention, my Devil Fruit is a logia power. One of the only ones where the guy who eats it stays as a solid. So you can't really hurt me like that. Sorry."
Sporosso started to walk backwards while he looked at Hurley and Alden, then turned around and ran.
"Hey! Get back here!" Alden was about to run again but Hurley stopped him.
"I got it. Metallum Haustrum!" Hurley's arms became huge in size as they thickened on the forearm and the elbow extended backwards forming piston-like arms, and his right arm shot out to Sporosso. Hurley's right arm grew enough to grab Sporosso's leg while his left stayed the same size. Hurley lifted Sporosso off the ground and pulled him back by retracting his arm.
"Captain Sporosso of the Emerald Pirates you are hereby asked," Hurley pulled back his left arm and made a fist with thick studs on the knuckles, "TO LEAVE MY ISLAND!"
BANG!
Hurley's brought his left arm around to punch Sporosso in the gut downward, and on impact his piston arm pushed in and sent Sporosso into the ground hard enough to make the ground crack and fly up around him. He lied there on his ground with a blank look on his face and blood on his mouth.
"Ah, much better." Hurley whiped his hands on each other then turned to Alden. "Hey can I talk to you tomorrow?"
"What?" Hurley took out a card from his pocket and gave it to Alden.
"Show that to the doorman at my office. Kelda will show you the way to the conference room. I'd like to have a few words with you."
Hurley then pulled Sporosso out of the ground by grabbing the back of his jacket. "See ya later!"
"Hey wait!" Alden started but Hurley had used his piston arms to reach upwards to the top of the walls separating the docks from the residential area. Alden could only think of one word to say now.
"Crap"
The Next Day
"Finally, I got one of my own." Alden said while thinking of the boat he had just purchased. Or at least, one could guess you could call it a boat. It was an exuberant mix of colors because of the different woods used to build it. It had one sail that was rolled up.
He was currently walking up to the main gates of Hurley's towering building. Unlike yesterday, he saw guards at the front gates.
"Please state your name and business." said one.
Alden pulled the card out from his pocket and said "Uh, your boss gave this to me yesterday. It says that I'm suppose to be here at this time and-"
"Please go right ahead sir, your expected by miss Kelda."
"Oh. Ok then." Alden, now having permission, walked on. He entered the main door and stood in a large hallway with a reception desk off to the right. At the desk was Kelda.
"Um, miss? I-"
"Follow me please."
'Ok then.' Alden thought as he followed along. They went through a long hallway, and went up a set of spiraling stairs. They entered another hallway that lead to a door.
Kelda stopped, turned to him and said, "Mr. Batik has much work to do before the day is done, so whatever he asks you give him a quick, clear answer to shorten the time this meeting will take."
"Yes ma'am."
Kelda opened the door and motioned for him to go inside and he obliged. When Alden entered, the first thing he noticed was a large map right in front of him on the wall. It was like every other map he had seen but he noticed one minor thing. There was an island that usually wasn't there on other maps. He looked to his left and looked out the huge window that made up the wall on that side. He could see practically the entire island from up here.
"Nice view." Alden commented.
"Ya'think?"
"GYAHHHH!"
Alden jumped almost ten feet in the air when Hurley's voice spoke into his ear.
"Where the hell did you come from?"
"Me? I've been here. You were the one that came in all spaced out like a school boy looking at the girl he likes."
Hurley was now dressed in black pants, grey-tipped boots, and a black tucked in button up shirt. His hair was no longer flat but styled to have a more wild look and he had a single bang on the right side of his face.
"Geez. What did you want to see me for anyway?"
"Oh that's simple. Come over here." Hurley walked back to the other side of the room were a large desk was. Hurley took his place on one side, while Alden sat on the other side. "Ya see, the way I figure, you helped me save my port, my business, and my people here at the office. So I feel I need to repay you. So state something you'd like from the port, and you get it, free of charge."
"Wow, so I could have anything?" Alden asked eagerly.
"Yep, so long as it's within my power to give it to you."
Alden started to think hard on this. What could he need?
"Well, actually you probably wouldn't be able to give me what I've been looking for."
"Oh, hows that?"
"Well, for so long now I've been dreaming of one thing. I want to be part of a pirate crew so great, that they become legends. I thought the Emeralds were a crew that could become like that because of my own ambition I guess. What happened to them anyway?"
"I sent them on their way. After I gathered them up I had them blind folded and shipped off in their ship and put somewhere far away." Hurley said with a smile on his face.
"But won't they come back?"
"Nope, I revoked their Moon Maps. They won't be able to come back here again." Hurley still had a smile on his face.
"But what about a log pose? Wouldn't they come back with one of those?"
"Nope, the island has metal pillars around it, which disturbs the natural magnetic field the island has, and if that wasn't difficult enough, inside those pillars are special magnets that are of the same polar type that a log pose uses to find islands. That way..."
"A log Pose will point the other way." Alden answered.
"Exactly. So... you say you want to be part of a crew that becomes legendary right? Why not just try to make a crew like that?"
"Hey, I'm a good fighter, I know that. But I couldn't lead a horse to water. I know, I tried. I'd rather be content helping out someone who knows what he's doing."
"Well I guess I can relate to your dreams. Before I made the port, I wanted to be a pirate that even the World Government was afraid of."
"That's a big goal don't ya think?" Alden asked with the utmost curiosity.
"Well I wanted to be big, and you couldn't get any bigger than someone even the Government is afraid of. But I decided that maybe settling for helping others achieve their dreams by establishing the port was good enough."
"Well all due respect Mr. Batik, I-"
"Please, call me Hurley. Only Kelda calls be Mr. Batik. Shes enough of a stick as it is, I dread to think what would happen if she knew her influence got to someone."
"Well, Hurley, as I was saying, with all due respect I don't want to settle for anything less than what I have been striving for. But as for your offer, I could use some food and supplies for my trip."
Hurley looked at Alden and smiled.
"Very well. Go on down to the market. I'll join you shortly to authenticate the free budget." Hurley got up from his seat and walked to the door. "I just need to clear some things up with my assistant and I'll be down shortly."
"Alright, and thank you."
Hurley looked back at Alden and said "No, no...Thank You."
Alden wondered why that caused a small shiver to go down his spine, but thought to put it behind him as he walked down the stairs.
The Market, an hour later
"Alright, that should do it. Now to wait." Alden had just finished his list of supplies as he out the last water jug into his bag. Now all he had to do was wait for Hurley. During that time he kept thinking, what was the Grand Line going to be like? What sort of Interesting people were out there? What would he do to make a name for himself as well as the crew he'd be a part of?
"Is spacing off one of your hobbies?" said a voice behind Alden, making him jump from his spot again.
"For the love of- Do you enjoy scaring people? And what's with the hat?"
Hurley was now dressed in a large coat that reached down to his thighs and had a furred collar, and on his head was a hat that swept down in front of his face in between his eyes. In the back the hat swept back into two 'points.'
"What? I like it. Now then, good evening sir." Hurley said while turning to the vendor.
The vendor practically jumped when he saw who was talking to him.
"Mr. Ba-"
"NO, NO! Not Mister anything! You know my name."
"Ahem, ah, Hurley! Good to see you again sir? How can I help you?"
"Simple." Hurley reached into his pocket and pulled out some bills, "The kid's stuff is on me."
"Yes sir!" The vendor took the bills and stored them in his money box.
As Alden and Hurley walked on Alden asked, "That was how you were going to give me stuff? By buying it for me?"
"Well It's all business. I can't just go up to a guy who's trying to sell things to put food in his stomach, and shoes on his feet can I?"
"Ya got a point there."
They continued to walk until they reached the docks.
"So where's your ship?" Hurley asked as he walked a bit more ahead of Alden.
"Why do you ask?" Alden replied.
"Well, If I'm going to be It's Captain I have to know what It looks like."
Alden dropped his bag.
"WHAT?"
Hurley turned around to face Alden and said "What? I'm experienced. Hell, I've been on the waters since I was a kid. The crew I came to the grand line with said I was one of the best crewman they've ever had."
"I'm not wondering weather or not you've got experience, I'm wondering how the hell you came to this decision!"
"What can I say? You inspired me. I left my dreams unfulfilled, all because I settled for less. My meeting you has shown me that I made a big mistake. It's time I got back into the business!"
"Bu-bu-but what about this business? Your port?"
"I'm having Kelda be in charge while I'm gone. So wheres the ship?"
"Hey wait you can't just say 'I think I'll trade this job for what's behind door #1.' You got to think things through!" Alden insisted.
"I did, thats what took me so long before I got to you from the office. But seriously wheres the ship?"
"Over there." Alden motioned over to his boat.
Hurley looked at it for a while and said, "Oh, oh, ohhhh I don't think so. Don't worry, I came prepared."
"Wait whats wrong with it?"
"I said 'wheres your ship' not wheres your boat.'"
"What's wrong with my Boat then?"
"It's a price of crap that's what."
"Hey I bought it at your port! What's that tell you?"
"That I control the port, and not those that sell within it, and You obviously can't tell when your being Jipped."
"I wasn't jipped!"
"Oh really?" Hurley walked onto the boat and grabbed the rope holding the sail closed and pulled.
"Schreee, schreee!"
"Ah! What the hell!" Alden cried.
The instant the sail came loose a few bats came flying out as well as a number of moths, and dirt.
"Oh my bad, you didn't get jipped at all," Hurley looked at the sail. "See? Its only got one hole in it. That's manageable."
Alden stared at Hurley.
"Follow me."
"Hey wait a sec! You can't be my Captain!"
"Why not? Our goals help each other right? I become a famous pirate wanted by all law enforcement agencies in the world, except my own, and you get to be the first mate of said crew!"
"But, hey first mate. Wait! No! You still can't be my captain cause your crazy!"
"Hey, first off, if I am anything I am Insane. Not crazy. There's a difference. Insane people know what they're doing when they're doing it. Crazy people don't know whats even going on around them. I know what I'm doing." Hurley turned around again away from Alden. "I think."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Come over here. It's right over here."
"What is?"
"Our ship."
Floating in the water was a great black vessel with dark brown railing, golden ornate designs towards the front. The back was raised with two decks and connected to the main deck by strong looking metal beams and support wires. The sails were furled and white. Tied to the dock was the walking plank onto the ship. Hurley and Alden both walked up it and boarded the ship.
"It's beautiful!" Alden said in admiration.
"It's named the Ocean Caesar."
"Ocean Caesar?"
"An imperial ruler. Thought it would be fitting for the ship of a legendary crew. Been my own personal home. Much better place than the drafty office. Fully stocked with food, water, and supplies for all purposes. Its ready and rar'n to go."
Alden looked over at Hurley. "Your really serious aren't you?"
"As serious as I can be friend."
"Can we pilot this thing by ourselves? Just two people?"
"Yep, and if we can get ourselves some more crew mates, she'll be unstoppable."
"Uh, we'll need a marksman for the guns, a chart man so we'll actually know where we're going, a lookout, cook, treasurer-"
"Ah! I can do that! Been managing a port for ten years I can keep good track of money and spoils. Especially mine cause I've got a lot."
"A doctor, a quartermaster, a-a-a-"
"Music! We'll need music to keep us entertained! That or a monkey!"
Alden stared at Hurley.
"I've had good experiences with monkeys in the past. Trust me, give them some grog, some fruit, and a sword, spin him around and let 'em fly and you wil have entertainment for hours."
"I won't ask. But when can we get this thing going?"
"How bout now?"
"Seriously?"
"Why would I joke? First Mate Alden! Weigh anchor!"
"YES!" Alden shot over to the crank and started to pull.
Hurley went to the edge of the boat and readied the plank to be pulled back in. Alden helped with it as soon as he was done with the anchor. Within minutes the ship was heading out into the waters of the world with Hurley at the helm.
"So what are we going to call ourselves?" Alden asked Hurley while unfurling the sails.
"I was thinking 'The Steel Will Pirates.' It's mysterious, classy, and shows just how strongly we want to achieve our goals."
"And it's associated with the name of your Port."
"We came from there didn't we?"
"Good point. So...you gonna say something?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Its out first day so I just thought we'd say something to commemorate the day."
"What should I say? 'Drink up me harties Yo-ho?' Do you have any idea how cliche that sounds?"
"Well shouldn't we say something?"
"Um...alright hows this. Ahem,"
'Please let this be good.' Alden thought.
"Today, we set our sail for the first time. Today, we roar out, and into the world. Tonight, we shall sleep soundly knowing that our dreams fly with us on the wind. Tomarrow, we shall rise up, and greet the dawn of our lives new beginning. All we ask from the world, is to grant a grand future for us. Alden Harxey, and Batik Desuhari Hurley."
Alden looked to Hurley with surprise. "Your middle name's Desuhari?" he asked.
"Yeah, what ya think? That the 'D' was there just alone in my name?" Hurley laughed a little bit "So how was the speech?" Hurley asked.
"Good, but the hat kind of ruins it."
Hurley just stared back at Alden.
"Your just jealous"
And so comes to pass, the fist chapter of the Midnight Pirates. What awaits them, we'll just have to wait and see.
-
Metallum: Metal
Exertus: Bullet/projectile
Cotengo: Shield
Anguis: Serpent
Carcer: Prison
Haustrum: Piston